(image via Womens Health Mag)
My saving grace, the poor mans personal masseuse, the reason I made it past many finish lines, and now my personal trainer, ladies and gentlemen, the Foam Roller. If you want to improve on sore muscles, flexibility, range of motion, balance, or stretching (if you haven’t already) go out and buy one today! If your still don’t think it’s worth the money then try a large diameter PVC pipe, squash balls, tennis balls, or even a Nalgene type water bottle wrapped in a towel. But I promise you, will be much happier with the foam.
Read on how to use the foam roller!
Stretching & Sore Muscles: Check out what Albert is doing to massage his pressure points. Yeah, I named him Albert. Do this before and after a workout for at least 90 seconds on each area that is tight or in pain. Roll back and forth in the below positions. Use your body weight to add pressure. It won’t be comfortable but the effects are amazing.
(images from elitemyotherapy.com)
Workout: For workout check out Womens Health Mag Exercises!
What It Is & How It Became Known
Physical Therapist Mike Clark is credited by many, with the initial exposure of the athletic and physical therapy communities to the foam roller and to what he termed “self myofascial release”. Self myofascial release is simply another technical term for self-massage. (words from strength coach)
What You Are Actually Doing
Tightness within the fascia creates abnormal strain patterns, which can cause poor alignment of the body and its structures. Such pulling of the joints can cause pain and nerve impingement. Fascia connects us from head to toe and provides stability and structure for our body so it is important to take care of it!
Fascia is like a sponge and when applying a pressure onto it, encourages rehydration. When the fascia rehydrates the ‘painful knots’ or trigger points will be lengthened out into a more normal balance.
When fascia is stretched or compressed there are longitudinal changes in the collagen fibres and a lot of water is squeezed out. Within a few minutes the collagen fibres retain their original state and water continues to flood into the tissue at an even higher rate than before leaving the fibres more lubricated and elastic. The body functions properly when there is maximal length tension relationship. (words from elitemyotherapy.com)
Where To Buy
Anywhere really…. Amazon, Walmart, Drugstore,Running Warehouse, etc..My suggestion is to go check them out in person and even try them out in the store! You will want to see how soft or hard you can handle.
